


To Readjust

by SchizoCherri



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Gen, KHR's resident science gremlin is fun to write, Prompt: Impossible, Sky!Nana, when he's not being a pain to write...
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-14
Updated: 2019-02-14
Packaged: 2019-10-27 20:01:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17773331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SchizoCherri/pseuds/SchizoCherri
Summary: Fon hints at an intriguing possibility.





	To Readjust

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by Anonymous in the [KHR_Rare_Pair_Week_Vday_Mini_Event_2019](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/KHR_Rare_Pair_Week_Vday_Mini_Event_2019) collection. 



> **Prompt:**
> 
> Feb 13: Backup Twin | **Impossible**

People just didn’t call him. Not out of the blue, and certainly none of the ones involved in that day. It wasn’t like they had any particular reason too. So when the phone that was mostly used to order equipment and supplies rang, he just looked at it for a long moment before picking it up.

“ _Nihao, Verde._ ”

-=-=-=-=-

Fon’s request had been… strange, to say the least. Come out to a small town in Japan. There’s something there that you might be interested in researching.

He’d even agreed to paying travel costs, so all Verde was loosing was maybe a week of time on his projects.

The house Fon’s directions led him to was quaint in its own way, and with Keiman draped over his shoulder in approximation of a plush the scientist reached out an rapped on the door. And the woman who opened the door was slender and bore the characteristics common to the Japanese, though there was something about her eyes and the curve of her jaw that hinted at foreign ancestry.

She smiled when she saw him and smoothed the apron over her skirt as she crouched closer to Verde’s height. Surprisingly though, instead of coming of as condescending the movement seemed to be accommodating. “Are you Fon-san’s acquaintance?” she asked, brown eyes bright and… was that a hint of orange in them? Fon had found a Sky, an active Sky, in this quiet little town? That alone was almost worth the hassle of getting there.

“I am.” He nodded briefly to the alligator on his shoulder. “This is Keiman. And you are?”

A thin frown crossed to woman’s mouth for a moment. “Fon-san didn’t give you my name?”

“He didn’t tell me much of anything when he bade me to come,” Verde groused.

“Well that won’t do.” The woman smiled, welcoming and warm. “I’m Narumi Nanami, but just Nana’s fine. Fon-san’s upstairs with Tsu-kun, so please come in and make yourself at home while I call for him.” Nana stepped back into the house with Verde on her heels and called up to the second floor.

Verde stepped out of his shoes as Keiman wriggled off his shoulder, dropping to the floor and scurrying off after a flash of white that had appeared down the hall. Nana followed sedately after them with a giggle. Then a sharp screech sounded from the top of the stairs along with an aborted thud and a startling flash of crimson dropped down the stairwell to the landing.

There was still a shrill noise coming from a brown haired child as they clutched at the shirt of the one who had caught them, and Verde felt himself freeze as he took in the person’s figure. Fon, an _adult_ Fon somehow restored to his previous self though still wearing that cursed pacifier, took note of the stare and smiled one of those damnably serene smiles that he was so fond of.

“It’s alright, Tsuna,” the taller - _damn him!_ \- man said, setting his armful down and ruffling the child’s, a boy, fluffy mess of hair. “See? No hurts; just a scare.” Tsuna nodded with a hiccup as he rubbed at his eyes.

“Tank you,” the boy mumbled.

“Why don’t you go help your Mama?”

“Kays!” the boy chirped, tears forgotten as he went off down the hall.

Verde finally found his voice as the child disappeared around the corner. “ _How_?”

“I’m not entirely certain, though I think it might have to do with Harmonizing,” Fon said, even as something shifted in the air and suddenly the martial artist was a child again. “Nana seems to get lightheaded if I try holding it too long.”

“Less a cure and more a reprieve, then,” Verde said, the implications turning over in his mind. “And if limited by your Sky’s…” He trailed off. Someone who wasn’t one of the Arcobaleno had managed to bond with the world’s strongest Storm. Verde had thought that they were too far out of the league of anyone else’s abilities for that to happen.

“I knew this would interest you.” Fon’s voice held a hint of smugness, though his face was as mild as ever, and Verde gave him a very flat look.

-=-=-=-=-

Verde ended up staying, transferring his lab to a suitable location provided by Fon’s little sister Meihua - none of them had known he had siblings, though honestly none of them had ever been very open with the others, despite Luce’s ~~machinations~~ _attempts_ \- and tried to lose himself entirely to the faint hint of maybe, _hopefully_ finding away out of this curse.

Tried being the operative word though, as Nana had taken it upon herself to make sure that he ate and slept regularly. She’d even tempted Keiman into helping (the traitor). Losing that much time for research to such plebeian things as _sleep_ grated Verde to no end but Fon’s Sky had put her foot down and had even made a rational - and sensible, as much as he hated admitting - argument.

So two or three times a day she dropped by, sometimes by herself, sometimes with her son in tow. Those times were the worst, as Tsuna always turned those wide brown eyes on him (the boy was as much a Sky as his mother, Verde was certain of that) and talked him into bathing with him. Sometimes though she’d just show up and talk, rambling on about the strain of being separated from one’s Guardian, or about the man who had fathered Tsuna.

Then one day, a few months after Fon had trusted him with knowledge of his Sky, Nana stopped by, morose and pale, and said she wouldn’t be by for a week for some reason or other, but that she had made sure to ask Meihua to keep him fed.

-=-=-=-=-

The next time Nana showed up there were dark circles beneath her eyes. Verde didn’t even notice her come in, and it wasn’t until Keiman tugged at his lab coat incessantly that the Arcobaleno even realized she was there, curled into a tight ball on the bed that had been put there for his use, face pressed against the pillow and fingers white from the force of her grip.

-=-=-=-=-

Then one day Verde did notice when she came in, because as soon as the door had closed she slid down and buried her face in her hands with a sob. Brokenly she ranted about having Guardians that couldn’t stay, because there’d be suspicions if they just disappeared from where others thought they should be. She just wanted them there with her! Was that too much to hope for?! Keiman shuffled forward and rested his head on her lap and Nana snuffled as she pet his snout.

The feel of her flames was thick and choking in the air, tangible in her frustration, her desire for her Guardians, but for as heavy as it was it simply washed over Verde and didn’t push.

“Get some rest.” For a moment Verde didn’t realize that he’d spoken until Nana lifted her head and stared blankly at him. Gah, that sounded like he cared about her well being. “Getting precise results is difficult if agitated flames keep throwing the readings off.”

Nana let out a watery laugh at his words and rubbed at her eyes with a sleeve, a vivid parallel to Verde’s first meeting with the woman’s son. “Thank you for worrying,” she said, shakily getting to her feet and making her way towards the bed. “Don’t forget that you need rest too, Verde-san.”

-=-=-=-=-

Blinking slowly into wakefulness, Verde lay still in the dark for a long moment before pressing a hand to his face and sitting upright as he swung his legs over the side of the bed. His other hand gripped the edge as he fought off vertigo, feet pressed flat to the floor. This was one of the reasons he hated sleeping. Fighting through headaches and ringing was one thing, he could still work on his projects, but sleeping always left the world spinning when he woke and he couldn’t think straight through it.

Which is why it took him a few minutes to realize that a few things were off.

Usually he had to hop down from the bed to the floor, but he could feel the solidness of the ground beneath the soles of his feet from where he sat, and something… something warm seemed to hum under his skin. Not his Lightning, though that was oddly content when usually it was sparking in annoyance just as he was after waking, but… It almost reminded him of Luce, before the tragedy of that day.

That thought made him still even as his hand slid back across the bed, brushing against Nana’s arm.

He couldn't have Bonded.

But the truth thrummed quietly in his chest and on a whim Verde pulled away from the sensation, only to have his whole world disorient, again, when he popped into a tiny body. He’d have probably fallen off the edge if Nana hadn’t caught him, the faint glow of amber bright in the dark. “Verde-san?”

She sat upright and pulled the scientist on to her lap. For once Verde let her, felt the warmth of her and her Flames, and allowed them to settle again within his own.

“Oh.” Nana’s hold tightened ever so slightly, and something damp fell on his hair. Her voice hitched as she whispered a strained, “Thank you,” into the dark.


End file.
